The annual meeting of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has chosen not to back a strongly worded motion that condemned the UK General Medical Council’s handling of cases of misconduct in child protection work.

But the meeting did pass a motion that voiced milder criticism of the GMC, which many paediatricians accuse of giving too much weight to vexatious and serial complaints against child protection specialists.

The proposed motion would have declared that the college had “no confidence” in GMC procedures, but the motion that was passed refers only to the college’s “grave concerns.”